More than 400 residents in Shawnee County’s eighth and ninth precincts will have a second chance to vote in the primary election Tuesday, when a special election will be held to correct a mix-up at one of the county’s 99 polling locations.

The special election is needed because many people who voted in the Aug. 7 primary at Light of the World Christian Center, 3301 S.W. Gage Blvd., were issued wrong ballots. The supervising judge at the location, Pamela Vannordstrand, 52, was subsequently fired.

However, the election office hasn’t done anything special to prepare for Tuesday’s election. It used the same process in selecting and training officials as it always does, election commissioner Elizabeth "Libby" Ensley Deiter said.

The only real change for Tuesday’s election, she said, is that machines won’t be counting the votes.

Ensley Deiter didn’t comment on whether manually counting the ballots would be more or less accurate than a machine, saying only that the decision was "purely financial." Having to hand-count the votes also will mean election results will take longer to compile, she said.

Aside from the potential for more oversight — with only one polling location, Ensley Deiter said, she should be able to "drop by" more than once Tuesday — nothing about the preparation for Tuesday’s election is different.

"I was certainly looking for people who follow instructions and understand the process, and I know these people will do a great job," she said. "But I’m always looking for that in all elections."

The three officials she selected to work at Light of the World — who have a collective 22 years of experience on election boards — will undergo additional training for the special election ballots, Ensley Deiter said.

A records request for the names and qualifications of the officials submitted Friday afternoon hadn’t been returned.

Two of the officials have 20 years of experience on election boards between them, and the third, though having only two years of experience, came highly recommended, she said.

THE ELECTION

Only the 315 Republicans and 111 Democrats who voted in the Aug. 7 primary at the location will be eligible to cast their votes Tuesday. Each person who signed the poll book was sent a letter encouraging them to cast their votes again, she said.

As of 1 p.m. Friday, the office had processed 23 advance and mail-in votes.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Light of the World. All mail-in ballots will have to be in the election office by 7 p.m. Tuesday in order to be counted, Ensley Deiter said.

Advance voting can take place at the election office, 911 S.E. 37th, until noon Monday, she said.

The re-vote could affect the outcome of only one race — for the Republican nomination in the 52nd House District — where unofficial results show Shanti Gandhi leads Dick Jones by 45 votes. Gandhi goes into the special election with 1,476 votes, Jones with 1,431 and Scott Hesse with 1,114.

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